Author: INDEPENDENT

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailRent prices are going up much more slowly than before, in good news for millennials, Gen Z-ers and everyone else struggling with housing costs. Amid general gloom about the property market – house prices are falling and mortgage costs are going up – Zoopla says competition to land a rented home is at its lowest for six years.The price of rent is going up 1.9 per cent year-on-year, down from 2.8 per cent…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsMinisters face pressure to act on the cost of living as the Iran conflict threatens to push prices higher.Oil prices have soared since the US and Israel began strikes on Iran, exceeding 100 dollars per barrel on Monday.Although prices fell back below 90 dollars as US President Donald Trump suggested the conflict was nearing a conclusion – contradicting his own Defence Department – economists warned that the war…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsWorkers at the John Lewis Partnership are set to find out whether they will receive their first annual bonus payment in four years next week.The retail group, which runs the John Lewis department store chain and Waitrose supermarket business, will also reveal how it has been progressing with its transformation strategy in an update on Thursday March 12.It will report its results for the year to January, which…

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Timothée Chalamet has pirouetted his way into controversy after claiming “no one cares” about ballet or opera – with opera singers criticising his “disappointing” take. The Marty Supreme star, 30, took part in a live conversation with Matthew McConaughey for Variety in February, during which they discussed competing with audiences’ shrinking attention spans. “In this day of shorter attention spans, vertical 12-second spots, are we losing attention?”…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsThe FTSE 100 ended a bruising week on the back foot with oil heading above 90 US dollars a barrel sending UK bond yields soaring as inflation fears mount.A soft US jobs report added to the downbeat mood as European and US markets also fell sharply.The FTSE 100 index ended down 129.19 points, 1.2%, at 10,284.75.The FTSE 250 closed down 199.25 points, 0.9%, at 22,500.95 and the AIM…

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Why Our Town? When Newport-born thespian Michael Sheen announced last year that Thornton Wilder’s canonised 1938 play would be the inaugural production for his new Welsh National Theatre (an ambitious, self-funded replacement for the recently shuttered National Theatre Wales), it seemed, perhaps, an odd choice. Set in the fictional New Hampshire town of Grover’s Corners, Our Town is about as Welsh as corn dogs or Super Bowl…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsShopping visits across the UK fell in February as wet weather kept consumers at home, figures show.Total UK footfall was down 4.7% year on year, a plunge from January’s 0.6% decrease, according to British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Sensormatic data.Shopping centres saw a 5.5% fall while high street footfall was down 5.4%.London was among the weaker performers, recording its steepest drop in footfall since April 2024.Footfall decreased year-on-year across all…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsRachel Reeves reaffirmed her commitment to end the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas as she met energy bosses, while warning that the Middle East war has created a “more uncertain context for policy decisions”.The Chancellor discussed the gas and oil prices sent soaring by Iran’s threats to block a key shipping route in talks with firms including BP, Adura and Offshore Energies UK.Ms Reeves came…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsThe UK economy could face a “very significant” hit from the conflict in Iran, the official budget watchdog has warned.The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said that the outlook for inflation would be “particularly uncertain” following spikes in gas and oil prices in recent days following attacks in the Middle East.It came as the budget watchdog reduced its inflation forecast for this year, indicating that UK inflation will…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSir Keir Starmer has said the Government is “looking at all options to support our people” as a flight from Abu Dhabi landed in London.Etihad Airways flight EY67, carrying stranded UK nationals, departed from the United Arab Emirates capital on Monday afternoon and landed at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 at 7.17pm, according to flight tracking company Flightradar24.Larges areas of airspace remained closed across the Middle East amid the intensifying…